Proposal Horror Story: Cops, Machine Guns, Lost Ring

Ryan Houston's meticulously planned wedding proposal included a private sunset dinner on the pier of a Mexican beach and a pre-made list of songs to be played at just the right moment.

He never imagined that the actual proposal would include Mexican police, machine guns and the diamond engagement ring sitting at the bottom of the ocean.

"I spent about three months planning this proposal," Houston told ABCNews.com. "I sold my motorcycle to pay for the ring and cashed in some savings. I really went all out and researched the ring and the diamonds. I researched online for weeks to find the perfect resort."

He settled on the Secrets Aura resort in Cozumel, Mexico. The couple would go there on vacation from their home in Weaverville, N.C., and he planned to pop the question on Jan. 9.

On that night, Houston, 30, headed down to the beach with girlfriend Laura Yearout, 28, for the surprise dinner. She was greeted at the beach with "I love you, Laura" spelled out in flower petals.

Houston said the hotel's event coordinator had promised him that they would be the only ones on the pier and would have a great view of the sunset. But, as they approached, he saw more than a dozen people on the pier, a yacht parked in a spot that blocked the view and the hotel staff scrambling to set up the dinner.

"My heart just sank immediately," he said. "We were supposed to be out there by ourselves watching the sunset and that's the first thing I saw."

From there, Houston said things worsened with delayed service, the music playing at the wrong time and an obstructed view where instead of the sunset, all he could see was a man on the yacht smiling at him while wearing only a speedo.

"The whole thing is pretty much blown, not going like it's supposed to so my nerves are just shot," he said.

Yearout noticed that he was tense and suggested they untie the yacht and give it a push. Houston said it seemed like a great idea at the time, but now acknowledges that it was a mistake.

After they shoved off the yacht, the speedo-wearing man began shouting that it wasn't his boat and he was just watching it for his boss. Houston felt badly and said he helped the man tie the yacht back up.

Disappointed with the entire situation, they left the dinner before their main course ever arrived and headed back to the hotel lobby.

"Just about that time, we see a Mexican police truck pull in and they tell me police want to speak to me about damaging a yacht and I'm thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" he said.

Houston said the boat's owner was "jumping up and down mad insisting they arrest me."

Before he knew it, Houston said he was handcuffed and telling Yearout to take his valuables, including the one she didn't know about.

"I've still got this 1.84 karat diamond ring safety pinned inside my shirt and I have to make the decision either to go to Mexican jail with this ring on me or let Laura take it," he said.

He told her to get one more valuable from inside his shirt.

"There on the pier, while I've got my hands cuffed behind my back, she reaches inside my shirt, feels the ring and puts two and two together," Houston said. "She gasps and then pulls the ring real hard and the safety pin pops. The ring comes flying out of the shirt and then out of her fingers. It bounces off the dock and goes in the ocean."

The police then began to take Houston towards their police truck. Yearout was "freaking out," Houston said.

Marriage Proposal: A Ring, Police, Machineguns, Handcuffs. She Said Yes

"She's screaming, just frantically, 'He was going to propose! He was going to propose!'" he said. "They're leading me off the pier and I yell back at her, 'Just mark the spot where it fell in the ocean. Find a landmark.'"

"In a matter of minutes, he's being put in handcuffs, machine guns are pointed at him and I find out he's proposing to me," Yearout told ABCNews.com. "It was very emotional."

Houston said he was put in the back of the police vehicle and had a machine gun pointed at him.

Soon after, additional police arrived and Houston was eventually let go after they determined there was no damage to the yacht.

Paty Gomez, a wedding planner who works with the hotel, told ABCNews.com that the boat belonged to one of the hotel's owners, which is "why it was a big deal."

The hotel apologized and soon Houston and Yearout were in one of the resort's penthouse suites complete with its own lap pool.

"One minute I'm handcuffed in the back of a truck and the next minute we're in one of the nicest rooms in the resort," Houston said. "It was just baffling. It was like the twilight zone."

But Houston didn't spend any time enjoying the room since he was panicked about the ring. The experienced diver threw on his scuba gear, grabbed a flashlight and headed back to the pier.

"After about two hours, I spotted a sparkle and dove down for it. This time it was actually the ring," he said.

Houston slipped the ring on his pinky and swam over to the pier to get out of the water.

"I walked over to her dripping wet in my wetsuit, kneeled down -- she didn't know I'd found i t-- and I kneeled down and proposed to her on the pier, in the middle of the night, in my scuba gear," Houston laughed. "She said yes."

The hotel has since offered to host their wedding for free and give them a complimentary two-week stay. Houston said they are considering it.

Houston is the founder and owner of Lawn-n-Order landscaping and Yearout is a medical assistant. They dated for eight months in high school, but then broke up and did not see each other for 11 years.

Houston said they eventually ran into each other and found that both of them had been constantly thinking of the other for more than a decade. They got back together six months ago.

The wedding date has been set for July 5 and the couple is hoping it is relatively uneventful.

"More according to plan would be nice," Houston said laughing. "I'd just like to have no surprises this time. No machine guns, no dropped ring."

"At the time, it was a nightmare. Now, it's a really good story," Yearout said. "The best couples in life have the best stories."

Recommended for You

A kindhearted stranger has paid off more than $900 in overdue lunch balances for students at an elementary school in Herminie, Pennsylvania. "We're calling him our 'Secret Santa,'" said Amy Larcinese, principal of HW Good Elementary School.

When the Ugly Christmas Sweater Shop in Dallas, Texas, decided to expand and open new locations this year, its owner took an unconventional approach to hiring new employees. He had them submit a video of their best dance moves, reported ABC affiliate WFAA in Dallas. "We found a lot of great people

A dinosaur tail preserved in amber has been discovered for the first time ever, researchers announced on Thursday in a paper published in the scientific journal Cell Biology. The feather-covered tail is from a dinosaur that lived on Earth about 99 million years ago, according to a news release from

A woman with a double amputation was left lying on the ground for several minutes after she fell off her wheelchair while being arrested at a gas station in Miami-Dade County, Florida, according to videos captured by witnesses and a police officer's body camera. The woman who was arrested -- 52-

A 4-year-old California girl battling leukemia took over the city of Sacramento today as Make-A-Wish transformed her into a princess for a day. Alyla Stamp, 4, of Yuba City, California, was surprised this morning with a trip to a Macy’s department store in Sacramento where she received her princess

As locals near Washington, D.C.’s Comet Pizza restaurant know too well, fake news headlines can have real-world implications. Edgar Welch allegedly fired three shots at the local hotspot after driving 350 miles from North Carolina in order to investigate a fake news story that the pizzeria was home

The former boyfriend of Anastasia Duval, whose twin sister, Alexandria Duval, has been charged with murdering her -- after an SUV driven by Alexandria plunged off a cliff in Hawaii in May -- has given his first TV interview, during which he described the pair's tenuous relationship. Alexandria Duval

T.J. Miller, the host of the Critics’ Choice Awards, was arrested early this morning on a battery charge only two days before the live show airs. Police arrested the HBO “Silicon Valley” actor after officers responded to the 6900 block of Camrose Drive in Los Angeles at 1 a.m. where a car company driver

Stepping onto this Pittsburgh city bus is like taking a ride on Santa’s sleigh.For more than a decade, driver Bill Sanfilippo has decked out his bus in head-to-toe Christmas decorations.“People love it. It puts a smile on their face,” the 12-year veteran of Allegheny County Port Authority told ABC News.Every

In July, Taylor Swift hosted a big Independence Day party, and both Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively attended. One photo in particular stuck out of Reynolds, Lively, Swift, her then-beau Tom Hiddleston, and another couple. All had big smiles on their faces, but Reynolds had a pretty lackluster look.

Behold, the chocolate chip taco cookie with chocolate peppermint mousse. It's the whimsical culinary creation of celebrated chef David Burke and ABC News' "Good Morning America" went inside the kitchen at his newest New York City restaurant, Tavern 62, and learned how to make the holiday

President Obama has ordered a "full review" of what the intelligence community has called Russian hacking activity related to the 2016 election and expects to receive the report before he leaves office, a senior White House official said today. “The president has directed the intelligence

Actor Ryan Gosling discussed his upcoming musical "La La Land," and his own personal experience of moving to Los Angeles to follow his dreams in an interview with "Good Morning America" that aired today. "You know, it's not easy to leave your hometown and your family and

African-American model Deddeh Howard is on a mission to change the fashion industry, one revolutionary image at a time. Howard posted photos of herself recreating ad campaigns, such as Kendall Jenner for Calvin Klein, Gigi Hadid for Guess and Kate Moss for David Yurman, in a project she called “Black

A woman accused of murdering her twin sister by driving their vehicle off a cliff in Hawaii waived her right to an extradition hearing in a New York court this morning. Alexandria Duval, 38, entered the Albany County courtroom in shackles, a yellow jumpsuit and with her long blonde hair pulled back.

The first trailer for "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is here and there's a lot to take in, including a new villain, a new suit, new friend and ... new lady loves? The clip, which premiered last night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," opens with Spidey doing what he does best. Next, we take

In fact, Helen and Al Giugliano are hilariously irate as Gabriella Rutigliano treks to class as she's studying nursing at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. The two, who now reside in Hauppauge, New York, have four daughters, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren between them

Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced today that Florida is now clear of locally-transmitted Zika for the first time since July. Since the Zika outbreak was announced in the state, four zones of ongoing Zika transmission had been identified and subsequently cleared in recent months. Today the last &quot

Celine Dion is celebrating the holidays for the first time without her late husband, René Angélil.Angélil, who had also been Dion's manager for decades and her husband since 1994, passed away Jan. 14 after a long battle with throat cancer. He died two days before his 74th birthday.Dion told the New